Last Sunday, I was talking to a visitor to our service. I said I was glad they came, and asked how they heard about us. Two years ago, it turned out, Nadia was at the pool with their kids, and we got to talking about the church and I invited them to come. “so two years later, here we are!”
If you are like me, you are impatient. Or maybe you feel like a failure in evangelism because you jumped out of your comfort zone, shared your faith, invited someone and… nothing. “See? It doesn’t work. I knew I never should have listened to the pastor say we need to invite people.”
Two years. An invitation and then I never saw them again… until they came to church last Sunday!
Plant seeds. See what happens. I got to thinking, what if I made that invitation, but was no longer the pastor here? Who cares? They came to church! Maybe it is the beginning of a deepening relationship with Jesus. Who knows what would happen if you just started inviting people. Maybe it takes them 2, 5 or 10 years. Does it matter to you how long it takes? We hope it is immediate so people can have the peace of Christ sooner rather than later! But that is not up to us. What is up to us is being faithful to share Christ, to make the invitation.
Pray for the Lord to put someone in your path this week. Tell them what Jesus means to you. Invite them to church. And maybe two years from now…
Last Wednesday I showed up 7 hours earlier than scheduled at LEX Bluegrass Field. Out of my area code and ministry zone, I was waiting for a ride coming from near Ashland. I met Tonya, donut-maker off duty from Dunkin's in the terminal. We talked, I shared scripture, life, and invitation to Aaron's gathering, because... she lives in his neighborhood. So invite somebody to the gathering of the Kingdom, wherever you are.